The One Queen
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: Companion to 'The True King' Read in conjunction. How could I, a prodigy, be so stupid? He said stay out of it, don't bother me, leave me alone, it isn't your fight. But no, I was too damn curious! Jeez, sometimes curiosity really CAN kill. RyoxIchigo
1. Prologue

"Ja ne Ryo-chan!"

"See you tommorrow Ms. Kunieda!"

"Yeah, sure whatever."

Ryo Kunieda was angry,no, scratch that, she was downright _furious_. Ignoring teachers and classmates alike as she stalked down the steps, out the gate, and headed for home, her book bag slund over one shoulder, a textbook clutched tightly against her bosom.

How?!

_'How on earth could Ichigo Kurosaki get a better grade than me?! He's been absent half the semester! Not to mention that his attendance record is shoddy..._

It wasn't so much that she didn't like Ichigo, she'd even tutored him once or twice during first term, and until recently, found him and his antics tolerable. But now, to see that her grades had slipped so low that even _Kurosaki _was at a higher academic level then she...

Preposterous!

_'Calm down, calm down, fussing and fighting isn't going to get you anywhere..._

No, that wasn't it, her grades weren't the trigger here, rather, the root of her problem stemmed from _that day, _weeks before_. _The day the sky itself opened up and monsters fell like rain upon Karakura town. And everyone had just gone about their business, blissfully unaware of their peril.

All those strange creatures, those masks, and why had Ichigo been fighting them?

Out of mere curiosity, she'd confronted him the next day after class, only to be rudely put off by said strawberry.

She still recalled his words, though they made her wince...

_(Flashback/ Several weeks earlier)_

"I already told you," His words were gruff, yet his eyes were sad. "Its none of your concern." He wasn't telling her the truth, she could tell it, the way his head tilted slightly to the left, refusing to meet her gaze as he began to edge past her.

"Tell me, where did that new student go?"

Now he rounded on her, eyes wide, mouth open in a small, silent 0.

"You remember...Rukia?"

"Yes, of course I remember Kuchiki." She'd glared at him then, unable to understand his confusion."But aside from you and I, no one seems to remember her now, either."

"..." Many emotions flickered across his face, but at last, he spoke.

"It's...complicated. You'll think I'm crazy."

"Kurosaki?" She took a small step forward. "Just tell me and-

"No!"Throwing her into the wall was the _last_ thing she expected him to do. And he wasn't particularly gentle about it either. It didn't help the miserable look on his face, nor the weary, ragged, broken tone of his voice, or his bleeding knuckles, no, for now her mind latched onto the pain in her shoulder, and the blazing fury that came with it.

"Bastard....She hissed, glaring up at him with a smoldering gaze. "The hell was that for?!"

"Stay out of it!" He hollered, shouting her down, even as students looked on in fascination. "Just...stay the hell outta it!"

Without another word, he jumped out the window, and was lost.

_(End flashback)_

After tha, She hadn't seen him, Uryuu, Orihime, or even Sado, and those three _never _skipped class. It was summer vacation now, and Arisawa told her that the four of them had gone away for vacation, taken a trip, or something in that order.

She didn't believe any of it.

Hence her foul mood.

_'Urgh! Doesn't he get it! I'm his friend! Sure, I may not ACT like it most of the time, but that's because...because...I..._

A thin pink blush wormed its way up her face.

"Baka!" She shrieked, kicking at a nearby piece of paper, only to miss horribly. "Ichigo no _baka_!"

**"Ah, I see you still have an infatuation with him after all this time, Ryo Kunieda."**

"Wha?!" Startled, she nearly dropped her textbooks, spinning to face the speaker. Lo behold, there he was, standing in the street, leaning on an old rusted shopping cart. He was old, very old, tufts of gray hair poking out from the tattered green hood he wore, for his raspy voice was certainly male.

And he hadn't been there a second ago.

**"Well?"**

"Well what?" She hissed, trying to get over the seething fire building in the back of her throat.

"Move." Ryo grunted, stepping around him and his useless pile of junk-

Only to fall flat on her face as he stuck out a leg to trip her, giving him an ample view of the black panties she wore beneath her skirt. **"Ehehehehe! I've still got it,**** even after all these years**! "A thick, ragged laugh, choked with hacking and coughing assaulted her ears, and with a livid shriek Ryo forced herself to rise, yanking down her skirt to cover her delicates.

"Ecchi....she growled, cracking a knuckle menacingly. "You're about to go blind. Permanently!"

**"Ho ho! Aren't we testy?" **The man laughed, his pale face twisting into a pockmarked grin, exposing sickly yellow teeth and pale black irises. **"Very well, come get me if you can!"** The killer intent he xuded was horrible. There was something...odd about this one, and it wasn't just that lazy eye of his either. Now, it was...

It was his _scent_.

He reeked of death, and it chilled her to the core, her thoughts of school and textbooks falling away as this creature held its gaze.

"W-Who are you?" She managed at last, her rage withering away. "And how do you know me?" She needed to run, to get away from this, this _thing_, but her legs had frozen, refusing to break into the sprint for which she was so well known. **"Kanshisha, surely you remember _me_, your most faithful of servants?"**It seemed offended, but really, Ryo was far too furious to care about the feelings of some crazy old perv like this.

"!!" All at once, a thousand needles of pain exploded into her skull. "A-Ah!" She gasped, dropping her books again, instead clutching at her now throbbing temples. This didn't make sense, no, this wasn't logical at all. No one had attacked her, yet even as she contemplated this elaborate puzzle, it felt as if they'd taken a chainsaw to her cranium at full blast.

**"Tch tch." **The beggar made a clicking sound with his tongue, and instantly, the burning sensation vanished, leaving Ryo to gasp for breath. **"The years have been far too kind to you my dear. Unfortunately," **Spreading his arms, she saw very little skin, but what she did see was infected, diseased, and _fermenting_ with countless bacteria. He seemed to notice the terrified expression and shrugged.** "I cannot say the same for myself."**

"W-What are you?" Now, now fear started to coil in her breast.

**"The Shukensha, the Kanshisha, and off course, the Mitsukai." **He replied, Steepling those bony fingers beneath his chin, the apparition grinned, its putrid breath churning her stomach, choking bile down. **"My dear, do you know what these _terms_ mean?"** He appeared to rest his head and shoulders upon some invisible surface, for he peered down at her with that leering grin of his.

"The Sovereign, the Guardian, and the Angel." Ryo replied matter of-factly, pleased to flaunt her knowledge of the Japanese language, but never once did she let the stern stoic expression falter. "I...think they're part of some fairytale or something my parents read to me when I was young."

**"Ho ho, you certainly know your stuff." **The beggar wheezed, spitting a glob of mucus upon the ground, and action which drew a sickly grimace from Ryo. **"Yes, these three beings of immense power, constantly at war with one another-**

"I already told you," Ryo grumbled this as she scooted past the grungy old geezer, making a beeline for the nearest store. "I know how the story ends."

A pallid hand on her shoulder, freezing her where she stood.

**"Truly beffiting of the Kanshisha." **

"Guardian? You keep calling me that." Ryo scowled, turning back half a pace, slapping his hand away, her gaze darting this way and that. "Why?"

Chuckling, the grotesque abomination extended a hand, or rather, what _should_ have been a hand. Instead of flesh and tissue, there was only bone. An d much to her horrified fascination, those brittle, cracked bones _moved_, clearly showing that he intended to shake _hands_ with her.**"My name, is Amidio Cecilio. But I'm sure you don't remember that either, now do you? If you'd shake please?"**

She shook her head fervently, and rewarded with a raspy chuckle, the perverded appendage withdrew into the long folds of his sleeve.

**"Understandable, understandable." **He nodded, but that creepy grin did not leave his face, even for a second.** "I can see the confusion in your eyes my dear, it is quite clear to me that you don't remember." **With the sickly pop of bone and siner, the beggar shrugged, and began to push his cart past her, almost as if nothing had happened.

But even as he did so, a tin can rolled at her feet. When she attempted to kick at it, the object morphed itself into a small rotund object, vaguely resembling a pendant, or a watch. "Nani?" Ryo blinked, and, ignoring her previous desire to boot the object across the horizon, reached down to retrieve the object. No sooner had she taken it, then, the device latched itself onto her hand, her wrist, sealing itself into place with a small _pop._

"Ah!" Yelping in surprise, Ryo seized the small device, but it refused to budge, and the blue facet of a sapphire now stared up at her, denying her frantic attempts to dislodge it. Ignoring her surprised gasp, Amidio stopped, chuckled, throwing his hood up once more.** "When next we meet, I will tell you more about these strange happenings. _And_ about Kurosaki Ichigo."**

As if reading her mind again, he chuckled at the ill thoughts she had of him.

**"I promise to come in a more...acceptable guise next time, m'lady. Perhaps one that is more pleasing to the eye, yes?" **

With a wink and a toothy grin, Amidio vanished.

**Note: If you haven't read The True King thus far, then u r gonna be confused. This is intended solely as a companion fic to The True King. It is a seperate story, but will told moreso from Ryo's point of view.**


	2. Journey's Start

Run.

She _loved_ to run, for this was her talent, outside of class. She was the fastest human in all of Karakura, and with a little bit of training, she aspired to represent her country in the Olympics someday, after she'd gotten her college degree of course.

But running was her true passion, it always set her mind at ease. All her troubles fell away, replaced by the rythmic pounding of her feet hitting the pavement, and the sound of smooth jazz from her Mp3 soothing to her soul. Her personal best used to be a hundred meters in twelve seconds, but much to her dismay, she'd dropped to fourteen.

Ichigo and the others came back the next day, and they each looked like they'd been run over by a train. Much to her charign, his personality hadn't changed in the slightest. Quite the contrary, now, he was even more withdrawn, and though he _did _apologize for nearly putting her arm in a cast, that was _all_ he said.

His condition only worsened as the weeks dragged on.

Now, he wouldn't even speak to her, and though she made every effort to hide it...

Ryo Kunieda was truly, truly _upset_.

What the hell was happening to Ichigo? Why did he have a sword, and-and that black kimono? Why was he fighting those invisible monsters, the ones that only she and Ichigo could see? And why did thoss _things _want her so badly? Oh yes, he'd already rescued her from what she know knew to be _hollows, _during that hectic day when the black sky opened and spewed forth those demons.

Again she'd grilled him on it, but this time, he didn't even answer. It was as if she were nonexistent to him now, a ghost, a specter that was always there, but everyone pretended not to notice. It hurt to be ignored, for she, accustomed to constant attention, both wanted and unwanted, _loathed_ the concept of being rejected in this manner.

It was a puzzle, no a jigsaw puzzle and one of those really difficult ones at that. Though she relished a good challenge, none of the pieces were lining up. The beeping of her watch alerted her, and she paused in her jog, stopping to lean against a nearby lampost and chug her bottle of spring water.

Ten seconds.

_'Ha!' _She shrieked, to no one in particular, and though this drew a few stares from passerby, Ryo didn't care. She'd beaten her personal best by _two full seconds, _and that dispproved her fears, the fear all girls her age nursed, that she'd gained a few pounds over vacation.

But no, her stomach was flat and flab free as usual and she intended to keep it that way. Patting her gut, a rare smile graced her lips at a thought. Maybe she'd even add a little muscle if she kept running everyday, rather than twice a week. Setting the water down, she began a brief series of stretches to prevent herself from cramping up.

"Ah, excuse me, but might you be Kunieda-san?"

Hissing in surprise, Ryo whirled to face the voice. And found herself face to face with a complete and total stranger. He was blond a pale blond with messy hair, she could tell that much, but that _ugly_ bucket hat, and those wooden sandals weren't particulary fashionable. Completing his outlandish attire, dark green pants with matching dark green shirt and a dark greyish-green coat, having large white diamond patterns along its bottom half.

He gave her a brief once over, taking note of her shorts, Nike's and white tee, a simple, basic jogging outfit.

Despite this, she scowled at the blond, thinking him a pervert.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Would you mind coming with me?" He asked kindly."You're free to refuse of course, but this would be much easier for the both of us if you'd just...

A bonechilling roar split the air.

"Oh well." The shop owner shrugged nonchalantly as the building adjacent to them exploded into a thousands shards, spraying debris everywhere as a large hollow with green skin and a crooked, broken, deformed mask stepped into view. "I suppose I should let you handle this then?"

"Me?!" Ryo gasped, staring up at the huge behemoth which now, wouldn't you know it, just happened to notice her. "A-Are you crazy?!" It grinned then, exposing sharp teeth the size of a small car, and capable of easily gobbling her up.

**"Food! FOOOD! Me EAT you!"**

With one hand it reached for her, giant fingers splaying wide, preventing all escape. With a small squeak of fear, Ryo threw her arms up before her, knowing the effort was futile, but still seeking some, _any_, means of protection against this devil.

_'No! I don't wanna die!'_

There was a dull whump, followed by a crunch, and immediately, that hand fell away, severed at the wrist. The hollow _screamed, _holding its severed appendage as black icor gushed from the cut. A thin, blue smoke emanated from her palms, which felt intensely hot now, as if they'd been burned by some great power, some intense flame.

"Huh?" She gaped in surprise, and as if by cue, another flamethrower like swathe leapt from her palm, devouring the beast's left leg and reducing it to ash. The creature stumbled, and fell back, crushing a thankfully empty bus under its weight, whilst confused onlookers ran from the invsible spectale they'd just witnessed.

"Ah, good, very good! I see you can use cero!" Urahara commended her, clapping his hands as if he were at some sporting event, not a life and death struggle in which a seemingly helpless girl, herself, could be killed at a moment's notice.

"This isn't some spectacle!" Ryo snapped back.

"Quite." Kisuke cooled himself with a small fan. "In fact, I don't think he's done."

**"HURT!" **The hollow pushed itself off the bus, a fresh leg popping out where there had been severed, charred bone. Pointing one bulbous finger at Ryo, is hissed at her, sounding much like a snake. **"HURT! ME KILL YOU! KIIIILL!"**

As it said this, is legs propelled it forward, and Ryo cried out in fear.

"NOOOOO!"

The hollow seemed to bounce off an invisible wall, staggering back in surprise, covering its ears as if it were in pain. Gasping, Ryo slapped both hands over her mouth, and the beast stopped staggering about, the sound of her screams fading away. It glared at her now, and spat some foul obscenity.

"Ooh!" Urahara was practically giddy now, judging from the wide smile he wore in response to her latest attack. "So your voice is a weapon as well? Impressive! Very impressive Kunieda-san!"

"A weapon?" Ryo blinked, then shook her head, confused. "What in hell's kitchen is going on here-Ah!" Now, the hollow lunged, seizing her prone form in its remaining hand, then dragging up to its now open maw. **"Me bite off head!" **

"Scream!" Urahara waved from down below, though he didn't sound too terribly concerned for her impending busy fuming, she almost didn't hear his words. "Trying yelling again!"

A dull pounding filled her ears, as if something were trying to claw its way out of her skull. It hurt, it hurt like hell, and she wanted it, wanted everything to stop, she wanted them to leave her alone, she wanted....

Ryo opened her mouth to scream.

And everything went white as the hollow simply distintegrated under the intense pressure of her defiant shriek, a wall of sound vaporizing it in an eyeblink. Deprieved of the creature's vicelike grip upon her, Ryo now fell on her butt, a stunned, dazed look in her eyes, confused, but not hurt.

"You're wondering what just happened, aren't you?" She jumped slightly at Urahara's voice, yet there he was, calm, unperturbed, and mysterious as ever with his goofy little get-up. "Well, are you?"

At last, she nodded, wary if she could trust this stranger.

"What do you know?"

"Simply put, you're similair to Kurosaki-san?"

"!!" She stiffened, and Kisuke smiled knowingly.

"Please, come to my shop." He gave a low an gracious bow, complete with a sweep of his hand. "I will be more than happy to answer any and all questions you have there."

And so, burning with curiosity, she followed. She didn't know that this simple visit to what looked like a rundown shop would changer her life forever, catapaulting her into a world she'd never known to be real, with beings and abilities that defied all imagination. She had no way of knowing that her old life was gone, that she could no longer return to the days of normalcy, ever again.

It would be the adventure, the ride of a lifetime.

And Ryo Kunieda was strapped in tight.

**Next time. Grudge.**


	3. A Queen's Jester

_"Soul Reapers? Hollow? Arrancar?"_

Her head spun from all the information she'd been forced to absorb. Kisuke assured her that it was a lot to take in at once, but rest assured, he'd swore he'd answered all her questions to the best of his ability.

Urahara neglected to mention that he'd carefully avoided answering a damned thing about Ichigo, or his whereabouts.

In an angry huff, she slammed the door open...

And ran smack dab into said strawberry.

_Why is HE here?! _

Her eyes narrowed sto slits as she burst out of the door. He'd been standing there, about to enter, and clearly her prescence had startled him badly, judging by the way he winced under her harsh stare.

But she didn't have time to chat, she had places to be. Taking the pack over her shoulder, she shot him a heated glare, as if to make clear just how much he'd hurt her.

When confusion flickered in his eyes, she forced herself to walk away.

She didn't get far.

--

She'd been halfway home, waiting for the crosswalk signal to change when the attack came. Out of the blue an arm suddenly encircled her waist, sharply yanking her aside, just as the light turned green.

Briefly she struggled, kicking at her unseen assailant, reptively, and where it would surely hurt. He was male, she could tell by the way he grunted in pain against her blows, but now matter how hard she kicked him _there_, he didn't let go.

At last, the voice whispered into her ear.

"M'lady. I would greatly appreciate it if you would remove your knee from my groin. You are causing me a great deal of pain."

"Nani?" The voice sounded familair. It just didn't have the same wheezy rasp to it. Daring to look into the face of her attacker, her eyes narrowed slightly at the green cloak he wore to hide his face.

"Ecchi!" She hissed, slapping the hand away from her waist. "Let go!"

"My sincerest apologies." The man bowed with a sly grin, bringing an arm to his chest in a broad, sweeping movement, and at the same time, reaching to his hood to pull it away. "I did not mean to startle you."

Ryo Kunieda normally didn't think much of the opposite sex. Boys were the epitome of sexist arrogange. They were stupid, they were filthy, stubborn, lecherous, rude, and more often then not, they thought with their crotch, not their brain.

It wasn't that she was a _lesbian_ either, no, sometimes girls' could be just as bad as boys, perhaps even more so. With their naturally spiteful nature, refusal to take no for an answer, and on rare occasion, irritatingly optimistic idea's, they weren't exactly ideal lover material either.

Maybe she had high standards, or perhaps _she_ was just better than everyone else. Regardless, Ryo did not want, and even if she did, she did _not_ she have _time_ for a relationship in her busy schedule.

Yet despite herself, Ryo was slightly startled, and embarrased, all at once at this particular boy, one she now recognized by his distinctive golden black eyes. But the face was unfamilair, though hard and chiseled, it gave the impression its owner was a laid back person, judging by the way a smile seemed permanently affixed to his face.

"You?!" She recognized him now.

Amidio had made good on his promise to return in a more acceptable guise, and then some. Gone were the rotted teeth, replaced by bright pearly whites, the pale filthy, grungy condition of his skin had been wiped clean, replaced by a healthy tan, that contrasted bright silverly hair, falling just around his shoulders.

He stood tall, topping the six foot mark with ease. His attire was a drastic change compared to his hideous rags of before. Around his thick neck rested a spiked choker, the kind you'd expect a goth kid to wear. Fair enough, she thought to herself, recognizing the black shirt emblazoned with a white skull, dark levi's halting just above the ankle, and a pair of, you guessed it, black leather boots.

"Does this body please you, m'lady?" That sounded a bit _too_ innocent. Surely he knew that he'd stick out like a sore thumb, or was this another elaborate ploy to irritate her,

"Goth." The word escaped her lips before she could take it back. "You look like some emo goth punk."

He winced, turned aside, and crossed his arms in a pout.

"I...believe this fashion is quite acceptable for one such as myself."

"Well it isn't." She countered, taking some small pride in her words as they got back on track. "Now, I have some questions, and you're going to answer every last one of them-

"Would _this_ be more appropriate then?" He interrupted suddenly. Before she could ask just what he meant by _appropriate_, Amidio waved a hand across his face, blocking it from sight for as it was hid in the cowl for but a moment.

"Ta-da!"

When she could see it again, her heart nearly stopped at the sight of his now amber eyes, and spikey orange hair. Now staring back at her was a very, very familair face, one that she'd seenly less than an hour ago.

"A-Amidio!" She cursed herself for letting his name slip in her amazement. "W-What did you just _do?!"_

"Me? _I_ didn't do a thing, m'lady." Ichigo's voice answered snarkily, the corners of his lips twisting up into a sly grin that he never ever used. "So, is this better?" He leaned forward slightly, and the grin stretched further across his face. "Is it more to your..._liking?"_

_Well...I think he'd look better in-wait, what am I SAYING?!_

"N-No! N-Not at all!" She sputtered finally, her cheeks flushed, slapping at him to which he jerked away, laughing at her cried of: "Just change back whatever you did! Change back damnit!"

"Well, _I_ can change my form and shape as I please." Was the answer, and with a wave of his hand, Ichigo's visage had dissappeared entirely. Of course I have to see the person first, and there are other limit-" There was a small trace of pride in Amidio's voice as he rattled on about his abilities, but Ryo felt nothing but revulsion at the use of such an arcane art, and therefore did not pay heed to any of it.

"See?" A new voice asked suddenly, yanking her from her thoughts. "But the only problem is-

"Ah!" Ryo now found herself face to face with, well, herself, but in the goth clothing of before. The clone actually smiled, fiddling with the back of _her_ hair as if it were a plaything, then sharpily hoisting the levi's back up when they nearly fell down.

"Cut that out!" Ryo hissed, grabbing Amidio by the collar, lest someone happen to walk by the alleyway and discover their antics. "For the last time, stop doing that!"

"As you wish, m'lady." With a grin, his features swirled, and he resumed his normal shape.

"Here." From the satchel worn around his shoulders, he extended a cloth wrapped bundle to her. "You'll be needing this."Amidio slid back half a pace, allowing her to continue forward, as he himself melted away into the shadows.

--

"You seem tense, Ryo Kunieda."

She whirled, and found someone standing in the shadows.

"How did you know me?"

The shadowy figure permitted her a small smile as he stepped into the light.

"I know many things." He countered, adjusting his spectacles with one hand, and brandishing his blade with the other. "And I know a great deal about _you_, Ryo Kunieda." Some small sense of warning told her to move, but she could not, so stricken was she by fear. He paused now, recognizing the space he'd occupied was little more than shattered stone. Still he continued.

"Tell me, how has Kurosaki been? I take he and that Shihoin wench are getting along well?"

"What?"

"Oh?" He seemed genuinely perplexed by this sudden turn of events. "You don't know?"

"Know what?" A terrible sense of dread filled her stomach. "Who the hell are you?"

"Sosuke Aizen. And I'd like to show you this."

Holding his sword, he uttered one word.

"Shatter."

The blade seemingly burst into trillions of fragments, spraying fluroscent light everywhere. Slowly, they formed an image, a picture, as if she were watching an actual scene from a movie.

As the image was displayed before her eyes, she gasped, angry tears springing to her eyes. Then she frowned, scowled, refusing to believe, refusing to acknowledge the incriminating image of Ichigo tongue wrestling with some busty tan woman.

"LIAR!"

With a shriek, she threw herself towards him. Steel met steel as she flew by, drawing blood.

"Marvelous." Aizen commended her, tossing the torn sleeve aside, revealing a thin cut barely above the elbow were she'd initially struck him with her newly acquired sword. "Just what I'd expect from a Kanshisha."

Ryo couldn't answer, she was too busy gasping for air. This guy was unreal, and he was _fast_. By the grace of god, she'd managed to keep away from his sword, but it was just that, _barely, _and it didn't help that she was horribly unskilled with a katana, let alone a long ass nodachi like this one. That last hit had been just that, a fluke, a lucky hit that wasn't going to happen again.

"But you're not using your full powers, are you?" Sosuke replied calmly, blurring forward, forcing her back half a step. "No, I didn't think so." Now a full step, as he struck again and again, Kyouka Suigetsu little more than a blur. "In your current state, you're no serious threat, however...

With sharp crack, his reiatsu jumped, slamming Ryo to her knees. The air rushed from her lungs, bleeding from a thick gash that ran across his right shoulder and down the back. Dim surprise reflected in those cold black eyes, her body falling to the ground...

Only to be grabbed by the collar.

"Why?" she gasped, glaring at the man with smoldering fury, trying to buy time until her strength returned.

"Why?" Aizen blinked in a rare moment of surprise. "As I've already said before, you are an important piece of the puzzle. To bring you here. Obviously I would be under suspicion if I were to suddenly appear in the real world without explanation, hence this untraceable gigai. Therefore, it was child's play to bring you to me."

With scream, she grabbed him by the shoulders, and heaved him bodily forward.

But Aizen twirled, landing gracefully on his feet, reflecting complete and utter serenity, even as she, pushing off the back of her heel, lashed out at him again in reckless abandon.

_"Urusai!"_

There was a loud cracking sound, and Ryo was gone, vanishing into nothingness, kicking up the dirt from the sudden burst of speed. No sooner had she left his eye, then something hard cracked into his face, surprising him as his glasses, shades he'd bought to further his disguise, shattered under the spirtual pressure.

At this sudden development, wickeed revolutionary that he was, Sosuke Aizen could not help but be intrigued, even as he rubbed his sore jaw, numbed from the blow. This wasn't shunpo, it didn't have the distinctive swishing sound. It couldn't be Sonido, the sound didn't fit either.

And it _certainly_ wasn't Hireyanku, the Quincy equivalent of the flash step.

That left only one answer.

"_Jinsoku Kage-Sochi._ Rapid shadow step." He wasn't at all surprised by the sudden speed clone that leapt out of her shadow, swinging its heel down with the murderous intent of breaking his face.

He saw her coming, sidestepping at the very last second, and her sword struck the earth instead, the dark afterimage vanished as his sword raked it down the middle. "Impressive. I didn't think you'd proggressed _that_ far, Ms. Kunieda, to remember your own signature technique."

She growled, landing delicately on her left heel, whirling to plant her right shoe firmly into the captain's stomach.

With a startled grunt, he lurched back, only to vanish into thin air once more. She blinked in surprise as he reappeared to her left, entirely unscathed, _unfazed_ by her attack.

"As I said, I am not an enemy."

Ryo shrieked with frustration, seizing the hilt of her sword and shoving it deeper into the soil. The words leapt to her mind, unbidden, as if she'd known them all along, and just forgotten them.

_"Tear apart!"_

The long nodachi, still embedded in the soil pulsed a sinister red as it lengthened off into a large ornamental scythe with a blinking eye in its center handgrip. Extending from the eye, a set of black chains wrapped themselves about her left arm and waist, suggesting it could be used as a ranged weapon.

_"Shikyo-gai."_

The weapon itself was easily twice her size, but with a flick of her wrist, she twirled, pulling it out, spinning the reaper about her as if it were a waist high halo.

Sosuke arched an eyebrow.

"Interesting choice of weaponry."

A small smirk as she squeezed the pommel, and its wicked edge became hedged in serated spikes. "Then how about this?!" Unbidden, the chain extended, its slick edges encircling the shinigami, lacerating his hollow's throat as if his skin were made of paper. Then massive frame swung around one more time, ending with a decapitation.

Calling the reaper back to her, Ryo sneered down at her victim, the blood soaking the streets, his mouth open in a silent 0. With a swift thrust of her heel, she stamped on his chest, kicking the corpse into the nearby street.

"Fool."

Cold steel suddennly rested upon her throat.

"Am I?" Sosuke Aizen still very much alive, whispered in her ear. "Does a fool tell the truth and offer peace?" His free hand seized her by the hair, dragging her to him.

"How?" She gasped, the thin trickle of blood running down the creamy alabaster skin of her neck, gazing down at the Aizen Sosuke that was suppsed to be dead.

"This is the power of my zanpaktou. Kyouka Suigetsu."

"I-She wormed out of his grip, trying to suppress the flush that fled from her neck to her cheeks- I have no interest in peace."

"I find _that_ difficult to believe." The bespectacled captain countered with a small smile, his words, which normally had an almost hypnotic effect on humans and shinigami alike, seemingly losing their charm when spoken to her.

She was wary, this one, and for good reason.

"You hate him, don't you?" The taunt was so sudden that she froze, utterly unable to speak. "Yet you love him, but don't want to hurt him." The former captain gave a small, careless sigh. "My my, I'd say it's a Catch twenty two."

The fire burst into her throat and choked her.

"Shut up!"

"It's a shame really, you're not very pleasing to the eyes, not when you're so cold." He gave her an appreciable glance for emphasis, his zanpaktou at work, breaking down the barriers of her mind with chilling efficency. "You act harsh, you throw up a facade to push him away...

"Teme!" She choked out, trying to keep the image from her mind, and failing miserably.

A thick spiritual pressure cut off what he might have said.

"Aizen Sosuke." Much to her shock, Amidio now stepped out of the wall, its surface rippling behind him as his boots cleared the pavement. He'd walked right through the brick, she realized, and now he landed in the mud with a soft squelching sound. "Step away from my charge."

"Oh?" The man arched an eyebrow at the sudden transparency act. "And who might you be, _arrancar? _I'm fairly certain I haven't seen you before, I always remember the faces of my allies._"_

_'Arrancar?"_

"I am no ally of yours." Cecillio all but spit back.

Amidio had changed a bit, Ryou realized. There looked like the remains of a plaster mask on his head, running down, parting his hair, to for a section of sharp, ridged teeth hanging around his chin as if it were necklace of sorts, but it was conneced at the neck itself.

There was something about his personality as well. Gone was the playful, childish demeanor that irritated her so, now it was replaced by barely contained rage, smoldering fury, as he clenched a trembling hand into a fist around the long cloth wrapped hilt of a sword, strapped to his hip.

A sword that wasn't there before.

"_I_ am Amidio Cecillio." Never once did he take his eyes off Aizen, who had resheathed his sword, and now drew it once more. "Guardian of the Kanshisha, and humble servant of _Los_ _Gran Councilio ante vacuo."_ To Ryou, that spanish phrase roughly translated to 'The grand council of hollow?'

Blinking, she shook her head.

_What the hell does that mean?_

It was a short sword he drew, a wazikashi, with a simple oval guard, and white hilt. But the interesting aspect of the blade was in the long chain that dangled from a triangular hook at its edge.

Following the length of chain with her eyes, Ryo was vaguely surprise to see another wazikashi in a seperate sheathe, this one connected by a similair chain, and drawn as well.

Giving his weapon a quick twist, the arrancar placed himself firmly between the two, the chain acting as a shielf, spun at a dizzying velocity, ready to be thrown at a moment's notice.

"And _you_, shall not lay so much as a finger on her, so long as I draw breath."

"Then breathe no longer."

"I should say the same to you, _Shinigami!"_This sentence was punctuated by a sudden buzz of sonido, and by then, the arrancar was on him, a brillaint indigo orb dancing from the tip of the left blade.

Aizen's smile shattered like glass, eyes widening in anger, visage twisting itself into a frown as the reaitsu surged upon him. He swung his blade with gusto, cutting the flamethrower like blast in half, where it collided harmlessly into a nearby store.

Amidio, visibly surprised by this, whirled, but Aizen was already there, a dark arc of energy forming between his two upraised fingers. Amidio, realizing he wasn't going to get away in time, stabbed both wazikashi into the ground, slapping his hands together as if he were performing some odd ritual.

Whatever it was, he didn't have the time to finish it.

"Hado #90: Kurohitsugi."

The black coffin swallowed him whole.

**Hopefully that translated right. I really suck at Spanish. Next time: Bitter**


End file.
